Expect shorter walks soon at Ford International airport

GRAND RAPIDS -- Despite delays in fabricating the last of the curved, 38-ton trusses that form the canopy of Gerald R. Ford International Airport's new $130 million parking ramp, project leaders expect to finish that part of the project on time.

If so, passenger drop-off will return to the curb immediately in front of the terminal -- and beneath the new steel and glass canopy -- by year's end, leading to shorter walks.

Since December, passengers have been dropped off at a temporary curb, leading to treks through 175-foot-long covered walkways.

"We're hopeful and optimistic -- cautiously optimistic," Airport Deputy Executive Director Phil Johnson said. "We don't want to live through another winter with a temporary curb-front if we don't have to."

Construction began last fall on the four-story ramp, which will add 4,000 parking spaces to the north side of the terminal.

The canopy, which accounts for about $20 million of the project's cost, will connect the ramp to the terminal.

Metacor International, a Montreal steel fabricating company, is a week or two behind schedule on the canopy trusses, but crews have been able to work around the delays, said Scott Jones, project executive for The Christman Co., the Lansing-based contractor for the ramp.

Metacor is a subcontractor for SCI Steelcon, of Kalamazoo, which is installing the trusses -- the same company that erected trusses for Ford Field, home of the NFL's De troit Lions.

They must set the 200-foot-long trusses on 1-inch diameter bolts atop a pair of towers -- a job that takes 25 to 30 minutes. Precision is key, with the bolts placed using global-positioning system coordinates.

Steelcon crews hope to install the final two trusses by Sept. 27, Johnson said.

The original schedule called for final installation by mid-September.

The work needs to be done so crews can finish installing steel to connect the trusses, paint the structure, install glass and hang nets beneath it to keep birds from nesting, Johnson said.

Despite the lag, painters and glass installation crews still haven't caught up with the steel-erection team, Christman's Jones said.

"We're still on schedule," he said.

"With any construction project, you have things that shift. You have to work to make things stay on track."

Separate crews are about a week ahead of schedule on the north half of the ramp itself, Jones said. Once the can opy is done and passenger drop-off moves to the terminal, they can start on the south half.

Thirty subcontractors are working on the project, with about 200 workers, Jones said.

They expect to finish the project on schedule by October 2009, he said.